View source for USS Chain

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}

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|Ship image=[[File:USNS Chain (T-AGOR-17) underway c1961.jpg|300px|USNS Chain (T-AGOR-17) underway c1961]]
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1943}}
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|Ship builder=[[Basalt Rock Company]]
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|Ship launched=3 April 1943
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|Ship commissioned=*USS ''Chain'' (ARS-20),
*31 March 1944
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|Ship decommissioned=9 November 1946
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|Ship in service=*USNS ''Chain'' (T-AGOR-17)
*during 1958
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|Ship struck=30 December 1977
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|Ship fate=Scrapped, June 1979
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|Ship tonnage=1,441 tons
|Ship displacement=1,630 tons
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|Ship complement=120
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'''USS ''Chain'' (ARS-20/T-AGOR-17)''' was a [[Diver class rescue and salvage ship|''Diver''-class]] [[rescue and salvage ship]] commissioned by the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War II]]. Her task was to come to the aid of stricken vessels.

''Chain'' (ARS 20) was launched 3 June 1943 by [[Basalt Rock Company]] in [[Napa, California]]; sponsored by Mrs. P. F. Roach; and commissioned 31 March 1944.

== World War II service ==

''Chain'' sailed from [[San Diego]], California on 14 May 1944, bound for the [[Panama Canal]], and [[Trinidad]], which she reached 2 June. She towed barge ''YF-324'' to [[Recife, Brazil]], where on 2 July she joined the [[U.S. 4th Fleet]] for operations as tug and salvage ship from Recife and [[Bahia, Brazil]], until 18 June 1945, when she cleared Recife for [[Norfolk, Virginia]]. Her essential support played an important, if humble, part in enabling the 4th Fleet to carry out its mission of protecting the South [[Atlantic Ocean]].

=== Convoying Italian submarines ===

After overhaul and training at Norfolk, on 22 September 1945 ''Chain'' cleared for [[Key West]], Florida, where she made rendezvous with three [[Italy|Italian]] [[submarines]]. Sailing east, her little [[convoy]] was enlarged by four additional Italian submarines at [[Bermuda]], and she arrived at [[Taranto]], Italy, with her charges 3 November. ''Chain'' returned by way of [[Palermo]], [[Sicily]], where she took the covered lighter  ''[[USCGC White Heath|YF-445]]'' in tow,<ref>{{Cite web |title=USS CHAIN – War Diary, 11/1-30/45 |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/77602544?objectPage=2 |website=National Archives}}</ref> to [[Charleston, South Carolina]], arriving 31 December 1945.

== Grounded in Block Island Sound ==

''Chain'' operated along the [[U.S. East Coast]], towing barges and decommissioned ships until she grounded in [[Block Island Sound]] 29 March 1946. Quickly floated by Coast Guard Cutter [[USCGC Dix|''Dix'']], ''Chain''{{'s}} bottom was heavily damaged, and from 3 April until 25 June, she was repaired at [[New London, Connecticut]].

== Post-war decommissioning ==

She left New London astern 25 June, steaming to [[Orange, Texas]], where she was decommissioned and placed in reserve 9 November 1946.

== Reassignment as research vessel ==

She was assigned to the [[Military Sea Transportation Service]] (MSTS) in 1958, and reclassified Oceanographic Research Ship USNS ''Chain'' (T-AGOR-17). She was operated by the [[Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute]] as one of the [[University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System]] research vessels.<ref>{{cite web |title=Historical List of all UNOLS Vessels |publisher=University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System |url=https://www.unols.org/ships-facilities/unols-vessels/historical-list-all-unols-vessels |access-date=13 September 2019}}</ref>

== Final decommissioning ==

''Chain'' was struck from the [[Naval Register]] on 30 December 1977 and scrapped in June 1979.

== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c5/chain.htm}}

== External links ==
* {{navsource|09/37/3720|Chain}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20111010123441/http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/4emergencysmall/basalt.htm] Basalt Rock Company Shipbuilding History

{{Diver class rescue ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chain (ARS-20}}
[[Category:Diver-class rescue and salvage ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Napa, California]]
[[Category:World War II auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System research vessels]]